1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and a printing method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus using a thermal printing head (TPH) and a printing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of a conventional image forming apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, a spring 1 pushes a thermal printing head (TPH) 51 towards a platen roller 52 in order to form a printing nip N. A printing medium 10 passes through the printing nip by the use of a feeding means (not shown) to be supplied to a feeding unit 39. The feeding unit 39 feeds the printing medium 10 at a predetermined printing speed. An ink layer (not shown) which renders a predetermined color in response to heat is provided on the printing medium 10. The TPH 51 prints an image on the printing medium 10 by applying heat thereto.
The driving force of a driving motor (not shown) is not transmitted to the platen roller 52. The platen roller 52 co-rotates with the printing medium 10 by a contact force therebetween. For this reason, a non-printing area (NP) corresponding to a distance from the printing nip N to the feeding unit 39 is required at a front edge (or leading edge) portion of the printing medium 10. For borderless printing, the NP must be removed after printing is complete. Therefore, a user inconveniently has to remove the NP after printing. In addition, a length of the printing medium 10 is extended as long as the NP, increasing the price of the printing medium 10.